CHRISTOPHER FALCK

Ansel Adams described using one's hand to control the exposure of a print as "the performance". This made prints unique, where a final element of human interaction graced each work. I'm looking to bring that personal element back to a world saturated by automation.

After spending a youth surrounded by photography, origami, magic, science and art, I enjoy drawing inspiration from a diversity of disciplines. Growing up, I studied M.C. Escher, tracing his drawings and studying his methods. It taught me that sometimes what can't logically exist in the real world could be drawn on paper. Learning this at the same time my father taught me how to use a camera, I quickly wanted to make my prints show something impossible. To transform a photograph into a window of another place and time became a dream of mine. Like many of Escher's illustrations, it escapes reality, but I found with the right approach you can lead your imagination to take you there.

To blend art forms or create a hybrid of anything is equal parts adventure and frustration. After experimenting with many combinations, sculpture shone through as a real harmony with photography. Many youthful years tinkering with origami taught me what could be done merely with paper, and changing the shape of the photograph seemed like breaking the right amount of rules needed to innovate. Like all origami, folding a photograph is full of give and take. Working on any one part affects the whole, but when done in concert with the image, it breathes a whole new life into the print.

In the end, to transform a photograph into a window, you need more than just the right folds on the right image. A childhood fascination of magic showed me that success is often largely in the presentation. It's what masks the key to any good illusion. Placing the sculpture behind a mat and frame is the finishing touch to cause any viewer to look twice, and suspend their disbelief.